


aeon

by megidolaon



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-05-30 17:25:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6433546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megidolaon/pseuds/megidolaon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He wishes that they could spend a lifetime together but he knows it's impossible and he knows that Minato knows it's impossible too. It hurts but he's glad that they got the chance to meet. Souji could never imagine not having known him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone look so good in so much blue before.

The train ride is boring and uneventful. Not that he was expecting anything less being the only one on the train for a good duration of the trip but without the opportunity to people-watch it left him with even less to do then he would have liked. It wasn't like he was close enough to anyone back in the city to have their numbers so texting had been out of the question. He _could’ve_ read but that would’ve required digging through his luggage, but that was something he hadn’t exactly felt like doing.

When he steps out of the train the first thing he notices is that the Yasoinaba Station is a dump. More of a dump than any train station back in the city. Not because it’s littered with the trash of the many people who’re passing through to go to wherever they need to be but because it’s the _country_ and the building is old and looks like it hasn’t had any work done on it in ages. In fact, that’s what most of Inaba looks like he notes as he gazes around his surroundings before pulling out a small piece of paper and his phone to check the time. His uncle was supposed to be here to pick him up soon.

A sigh passes his lips as he shuts his phone, stuffing it back into his pocket and he goes to do the same with paper but the wind blows it out of his slack grip. It doesn’t matter and he doesn’t make to move for it. All it had on it was the time his uncle was supposed to pick him up on it but he already has it memorized so it’s not like he needs it anyways.

Somebody taps his shoulder from behind him and he jumps a bit, turning on his heels immediately to face the person behind him.

He’s looking down at a boy clad in blue. Blue hair, dull blue eyes, blue peacoat, blue. Blue, blue, blue.

It fits him. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen someone look so good in so much blue before.

There’s not enough time for him to think much on it before he’s handed the back the small piece of paper the wind had carried away.

“You dropped this.”

“Oh...thanks.”

He gets a quiet hum in response and something else tugs at his attention again. Another voice calling for his attention and he turns again, sees a middle aged man waving him over and he recognizes him as his uncle from the pictures his mom has showed him of him before and he figures he shouldn’t keep him waiting.

Once more he turns, to see if the other boy is there but when he looks back he’s gone. Like the gentle spring breeze has carried him away.

Souji Seta doesn't think twice on it.

 

* * *

 

Inaba brings him a lot of things he isn’t expecting. A murder case, a world inside of televisions, Personas…

And the blue boy. He doesn’t expect to see him again.

Ironically enough they meet again in a room, or limo rather, full of blue.

This isn’t Souji’s first time in the Velvet Room. He remembers his first time. It was on during the train ride. He’d fallen asleep and he ended up there and he hadn’t thought much of it at the time. It had just been a dream as far as he was concerned. The blue boy wasn’t there the first time he was there, though. That much is for sure.

Igor is going on about his journey and the services he has to offer he thinks but his attention is on the other boy because now he has more time to get a better look at him. Get a better feel for him as a person. Or resident of the Velvet Room. Or something. If he’s going to be using this room for the murder case he may as well try to figure out what kind of person the other boy is so he doesn’t step on any nerves. It’s what he keeps telling himself so he doesn’t feel so weird for staring.

The other boy isn’t paying much attention either, if Souji had to guess from looks. His attention is focused out the limos window which seems incredibly pointless to him. There’s nothing but fog outside. Fog so thick that it’s impossible to see anything else. It’s worse than the TV World, he thinks.

Margaret starts speaking again and it draws his attention away from the boy and how he’s noticed how the sickly gray of his skin stands out from his blue surroundings.

“Oh, and one more thing...I would like to introduce a new resident of the Velvet Room, who will be helping you on your journey.”

Souji’s gaze turns back to the blue boy who’s still looking outside into the fog with what he’s assuming to be a bored look. It’s hard to tell. His facial expression is exactly the same as when they first met and it’s entirely unreadable. It reminds him of himself.

When he doesn’t speak up to introduce himself after a few incredibly awkward minutes, Margaret continues and her steady voice is betrayed by the slight look of annoyance that’s set in the furrow of her brows.

“This is Minato.”

There’s slight temptation to speak up, mention to Minato that they’ve met before. Or say “it’s nice to meet you” or something like that but he doubts that the other would even bother to grace him with a response. Margaret doesn’t give him a chance to say anything, though, and cuts him from his thoughts of trying to think of something to say by droning on about what duties Minato would help him with in his journey. To this he listens intently, still keeping his gaze on the other boy.

He swears that when he leaves, he sees Minato cast a quick glance his way before he’s back in the empty street of the central shopping district.

 

* * *

 

A few days after Yukiko recovers from her experience in the TV world he’s back in the Velvet Room and when he enters he notices immediately he’s alone.

Except not quite.

Minato is there but with the way he acts, with the way he’s never not looking off into some other far off world he may as well be alone.

This time though, Minato isn’t looking outside the limos windows into the endless fog. Right now he has Souji’s compendium in his lap and he’s looking through it idly, flipping through the pages which were mostly blank. It’s weird but nothing about this room, his journey is remotely normal so it doesn’t matter. At least, that's what he tells himself.

“Uh…”

“You’ve got quite a few personae registered so far.”

“What?”

When Minato actually _speaks_ to him he doesn’t think he’s ever felt so surprised in his entire life. He’s sitting directly across from Souji, where Igor usually sits, and he looks up. Actually makes eye contact and he hopes that the look that he’s giving doesn’t look _too_ stupid.

“Just an observation.” He shrugs and says it like it’s nothing, before shutting the compendium completely and setting it down where Margaret’s usually seated.

There’s an incredibly awkward silence and Souji fidgets in his seat, fingers drumming rhythmically against his leg and he tries to look anywhere but across from him. With the others eyes on him he didn’t feel exactly comfortable looking back. He wonders if this is how Minato felt when he’d first been introduced.

“Can you take me to your world?”

Any thought he has about leaving the Velvet Room to get out of his horrendously awkward situation is cut off by the question. His head turns to look at Minato and his face is still unreadable. That’s not surprising in the least but he was expecting something…

He’s not sure what, though.

“Um. Yeah, sure. Is there anywhere you want to go in particular or…?”

Minato doesn’t bother speaking, just shakes his head at the question. Well _that_ was helpful.

Not.

Biting back a sigh, he watches Minato get up and wait for him to lead the way out of the Velvet Room.

 

* * *

 

He decides to show Minato around the central shopping district mainly because he’d been so put on the spot in that moment he couldn’t quite think of anything else for them to do.

One thing he learns about Minato really quickly is despite how reserved he is in nature he’s full of surprises. Souji didn’t have many expectations for him but he’s the opposite of everything he thought that he _might_ be and he’s not sure how that makes him feel. All he knows is it just makes the attendant all the more interesting to him.

“So, what do you think of the outside world so far?”

A smile is offered to the other as he speaks, watching Minato as his pale blue eyes wander the various buildings and people of the shopping district. While his expression hasn’t changed much there’s something in the way that he’s carrying himself that the wildcard _thinks_ means that he’s enjoying himself but he’s not positive. Reading people has never really been his strongsuit but there’s something about the young Velvet Room dweller that feels so familiar to him. Like if he could get Minato to open up he’d find out that they’re two sides of the same coin or something like that. Impossibly similar and yet entirely different in a way that doesn’t make him a stranger.

“...I’ve been here before.”

“Huh?”

“Not _here_ -here.” He clarifies, making a small swooping gesture with his hand to signify Inaba, Souji thinks, before stuffing his hand back into his coats pocket. “But this world...I think.”

The words catch him off guard and he tilts his head to the side, trying to think of a way to respond to that. It’s not exactly the easiest information to take in and all it does is confuse him but if he had to guess by the look in the others eyes, he isn’t the only one who’s confused here.

He’s about to speak up about something (he’s not sure what, though, he didn’t have any idea what to say but the awkward silence was becoming too much to handle) when a familiar voice catches both his and Minato’s attention.

“Partner! Hey!”

Souji isn’t sure if he should be thankful of Yosuke’s arrival or not but he’s given no time to think about it as his class and teammate makes his way over.

Yosuke buys the three of them steak skewers and makes Souji introduce Minato and it’s clear within seconds of his arrival that the attendant isn’t incredibly fond of Yosuke at all. He’s silent as he eats his steak skewer and the fool introduces him as “a friend from the city” and that causes Yosuke to babble on and ask Minato questions he doesn’t have answers for but luckily the prospect of meeting someone else from the city is enough to have Hanamura drone on and on, answering his own questions without waiting for a response from the person he’d actually bothered to ask.

For the entirety of the encounter Souji’s eyes don’t leave Minato who in turn pretends Yosuke isn’t even there.

 

* * *

 

An hour passes before they manage to get away from Yosuke and he’s convinced that they’re only spared his company is because his dad calls him back to work.

Souji waves as Yosuke runs off with a smile.

Minato grunts not bothering to pay any attention to Yosuke but instead stare at a pebble in front of his feet like it’s the most interesting thing he’s ever laid eyes on. Or eye on, maybe. The entire right side of his face was covered by his hair, so chances are he probably couldn’t see out of that eye very well.

“Your friend is kind of annoying.”

Part of Souji wonders if he should be offended by that. Yosuke is supposed to be his best friend, at least that’s what he had proclaimed the two of them as almost immediately after his social link began, and he thinks people are supposed to be upset when their friends are insulted but he laughs it off instead.

“Maybe just a little but he means well. He’s got a good heart. I can tell.”

“Mmm.”

The two of them fall into comfortable silence (their first, Souji notes, every silence prior had been uncomfortable to hell and back) as they walk Inaba together. He glances over Minato as they walk in unison, takes note of the little things he notices like how he slouches and how his hands rarely leave his pocket. Notices how long his legs are and how he switches between shuffles and strides every so often as he walks. He walks without much of a care in the world, like somebody could jump out of the bushes to mug him and he’d probably shrug it off and walk around his mugger.

It’s a funny thought. He hopes Minato doesn’t actually get mugged, though.

“We should probably start heading back.”

Souji feels a bit awkward breaking the silence like this but he can see the sun setting over the mountains and he knows he should head back to Dojima’s and help Nanako with dinner, as much as he doesn’t want to. He’d love to spend more time with Minato, he thinks.

Minato looks over at him and nods silently and they continue their silent walk together until they’re back in the familiar blue limo together.

When Souji’s about to get up to leave a hand reaches out and touches his own lightly. It’s just a brush but it feels like so much more. His heart stops in his chest when he sees something like a small smile on Minato’s face. Maybe he’s just getting his hopes up. In a way, he kind of hopes he is.

“Thanks. I had fun. I think that’s the word you people use. Take me out again sometime.”

There’s not a moments hesitation in the smile he offers the other boy.

“Of course. I’d be more than happy to.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s starting to become more and more clear through their conversations that Minato doesn’t remember much about anything.

“So...do you ever get tired of all this blue?”

“No...it’s not my favorite but I don’t hate it either, I guess.”

“Really? What is?” A short pause. “Your favorite color, I mean.”

Another pause. Silence between them has stopped feeling so uncomfortable but this one is a strange exception. Souji doesn’t want to push Minato while he’s obviously thinking, it tells in the way their visible eye squints and their eyebrow furrows and the slightly scrunching of their nose. He’s not sure when he started to pay so much attention to the other boys face but he doesn’t think he minds too much.

Minato has a _really_ nice face.

“Yellow.”

“...Seriously?”

Minato looks up from the skill cards Souji had given him that he’d been registering in the compendium, a skill card compendium not the one for his personae, after he voices his skepticism. The attendant cocks his head to the side in a confused manner.

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“Huh? Oh! No, not at all. It just surprised me is all.” A roll of the eyes is all he gets in response before his head ducks back down to focus on his work.

“So why yellow?”

This time Minato doesn’t bother to look back up or speak until he’s finished, shutting his compendium and setting it to the side so he can stuff his hands back into his pants pockets. His hands are always in his pockets.

“I don’t really remember.” His voice is empty and he shrugs as he talks, crossing his legs, like it’s the least important thing in the world right now but Souji thinks he can see a hint of sorrow in his eyes. “It...feels like I knew someone important and...this was his color or something like that.”

It’s starting to become more and more clear through their conversations that Minato doesn’t remember much about anything.

“Do you...do you not remember anything from before you ended up here?”

The attendant answers with a simple shake of the head. He’s acting so cool about it but Souji can see him clench his fists in his pockets. It’s probably eating away at him to no end.

He doesn’t understand how Minato can act so nonchalant about his own memory loss. He can’t possibly imagine what it would be like to forget everything. At least, he’s never bothered to think about it. Now that the thoughts wormed it’s way into his head he doubts it would be that big of a deal for him. Before all of this Persona user stuff his life had been surprisingly empty. He’d never noticed until now.

...He’s not really sure how he feels about that but he definitely doesn’t want to keep thinking about it.

So he decides to change the subject.

The look Minato gives him is skeptical, but it’s clear in how his shoulders slack slightly that he’s just as thankful.

 

* * *

 

One of his favorite places to visit is Yomenaido Bookstore.

Souji has always liked reading and he’s not entirely sure why. Books are a good way to pass time and they can tell amazing stories about all sorts of things but there’s something more to it for him and he’s never been able to figure it out. Then again he’s never bothered to put much thought into it.

...He’s never really bothered to think about a lot of the little things in the way he lives his daily life, actually, but that doesn’t matter. You can’t spend your whole life wrapped up on every last little technicality of life. He kind of wants to start trying, anyways.

“...Souji.”

A familiar voice speaks his name from behind him and he nearly jumps because it’s one of the last people he expects to hear _here_ of all places. He turns on his heels, hoping he doesn’t look too embarrassed to look at Minato in all his glory with Chie and Yukiko of all people at his side.

“Minato? I didn’t realize you…” Could leave the Velvet Room on your own, he wants to say but ends up trailing off when remembering that with two of his friends here it’d be more effort than necessary to explain.

“Oooh! So you _weren’t_ lying! You two actually _do_ know each other!” Chie beams at him and with the way his eyebrows set on his face Souji can tell he’s slightly uncomfortable. When he watches the attendants head turn away from the girls it basically just confirms it and Souji finds himself having to stifle laughter.

“We saw Minato watching you from next to Daidara’s place. He was staring pretty intensely so we went to talk to him because we were a little worried.” Yukiko explains the situation with a gentle smile on her face and he can feel that they were concerned and he appreciates the thought immensely. Although, it’s a bit embarrassing.

“It was my idea! I thought he was gonna rob you or something!” Chie pipes in.

“I thought he was ghost!”

“Yukiko! Don’t say that! I don’t even want to _think_ about that kind of stuff right now. And it’s rude to talk about someone like that when they’re right next to you!”

Excitement fills the air around them as the two girls began to bicker in a friendly manner and this time Souji can’t help but let himself chuckle at it all. Part of him wants to speak out and tell her that thinking that someone is a robber isn’t much better but he keeps his mouth shut, turning his head to take a glance at Minato who’s shuffled behind him while the two girls started bickering. It’s endearing in a way, like he’s a small child trying to hide behind a parent or something and the realization has Souji worried.

“It’s okay.” He keeps his voice a quiet whisper so the girls won’t hear it. “I know they’re both a bit much but they won’t bite. They’re nice. You don’t have to be shy.”

“Don’t patronize me. That’s not what’s wrong.”

He can’t see it but he can practically hear the cold stare in Minato’s voice. A tight feeling takes ahold of Souji’s chest and there’s a pause that feels like forever before he mumbles out a quiet apology.

 

* * *

 

Not much else is said between them until Chie and Yukiko have parted ways. Much like Yosuke, the two girls had managed to talk enough for the four of them combined which Souji was thankful for. It was pretty obvious that Minato was more of the silent onlooker like himself.

They end up at the floodplain again on their walk and he doesn’t mind and he doesn’t think Minato minds it either. The countryside suits him in a way that Souji can’t quite put his finger on. There’s a quiet charm about them both and that has a lot to do with it, for sure, but there’s something else too. A homey feeling, maybe? He’s really not sure.

“Uh, hey…”

Souji’s attention turns to Minato and there’s hesitance in his voice and in his face, only noticeable in the way his brow is set in a slight furrow. For some reason seeing it gives rise to a slight anxious feeling in his gut.

“Sorry. About earlier.” Minato rubs the back of his neck and he casts an upward glance at Souji from the corner of his eye. “I’m not mad at you.”

The sudden apology leaves him for a lack of words and he really has no idea what to make of it. Keeping Minato waiting for a response would be rude but he’s not sure what to say. He clears his throat, scratches the inside of one of his palms with the thumb of his other hand and treads carefully, like a deer caught in headlights.

“It’s okay…? I wasn’t too worried about it, really. It was just a misunderstanding.” He finishes it off with light laughter that he hopes is convincing enough to get Minato to drop the subject but it’s clear from the stare that he didn’t completely buy it. Souji made a mental note to start going to more drama club practices.

“Just wanted to clarify. I wasn’t sure.”

A nod is given to the response and silence settles over them and it’s awkward and a little bit heavy, like when they barely knew each other. Really, they still barely know each other but something about Minato is so familiar it feels like they’ve been friends for a lifetime.

He wants to say something again but he still can’t find the words and he chews on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from frowning. Awkward situations were inevitable and misunderstandings were bound to keep happening and if the two of them just kept dancing around actual problems like this rather than addressing it face on but it was so much harder than it was for Minato than it was for any other friend Souji had.

Seated at the gazebo on the hill overlooking the small town he runs practiced words through his head as he turns to look at Minato. Illuminated by the setting sun, his skin actually looks like it has some color to it for once and something about him seems to be glowing and the words of confrontation get lost in Souji’s throat.

“It’s really nice out here.”

He nods at Minato’s words, wanting to say something back but finding himself too dumbstruck by the softness of the expression on his face to say anything that didn’t sound entirely stupid. Instead he turns his attention back out towards Inaba, feeling a lot more at ease under the sun’s soft warmth. Their problems could wait for another day. The silence had just gotten comfortable.

Besides, it felt like he...no, _they_ had all the time in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow!! this took me like forever to get done and i'm sorry for that! life is tough, dudes.  
> i wanted to add more to this chapter but honestly i couldn't quite think of anything else to put on it that felt right with it all? so it's kind of short compared to the first one. sorry about that.  
> as an added note: i also took out the character tags for the investigation team and margaret and igor since this fic is mostly just centered around souji and minato. there'll be other characters but they won't be of importance so it didn't feel right having them listed when they weren't super integral to the story.  
> anyways sorry for keeping you all waiting and i'll try not to take too long next time but no promises.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know a lot of people have...no. Uh. Shit.” Stumbling over his words he pinches the bridge of his nose and inhales before starting again. “Are you two…?”

The bathhouse is sweltering. It’s hot, hotter than any normal bathhouse in the real world and it really shouldn’t come as any surprise that the heat is intolerable in this dungeon. Nothing could ever be easy, not when this place is outside of any regular reality. Not when this entire situation is just another attempt at murder. Souji lets out a heavy sigh as he slips off his school jacket, tying it around his waist haphazardly and slouching against the nearest wall before sliding into a sitting position. Shadows were one thing to deal with but that doubled with the heat it was almost too much to deal with. It was taking a serious toll on him and his friends.

He tries to work out how much progress they’ve made so far in rescuing Kanji in his head. This is their third trip into the TV world to try and rescue him but you can only go so far when you’re dealing with this kind of heat. It’s distracting and all it’s doing is making him and everyone else more irritable than they should be. Really, he’s even lost track of what floor they’re on at the moment. All he knows is that it’s somehow managed to get even hotter than the dungeon had originally been.

Yosuke lets out a frustrated noise from next to him, digging through the small bag of resources that they all mutually decided would be a good thing to start bringing along when exploring the TV world. He licks at his lips and then his face shifts into a slight grimace and Souji wonders if he accidentally tasted some of his own sweat in the process.

“Ugh, dammit! Seriously?” The annoyance in Yosuke’s voice is hard to ignore and it becomes impossible when he tosses the bag to the side in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Turning to face Souji, he does his best to wipe the exhaustion and frustration of the heat off his face with a lopsided grin but even then it’s very noticeably forced from his usual grins. “Dude, we’re out of water already.”

Already? Souji swears internally and clenches one of his hands into a fist, resisting the urge to run his hands through his damp bangs. They were clinging to his face from sweat and messing them up would only make it more uncomfortable. How long had they even been exploring? Probably no less than an hour, he thinks. How could they already be out of water? Had he not packed enough? He curses himself for not being better prepared. As the leader he should know better. It’s best to be two steps ahead and over prepared rather than underprepared.

Casting a glance to his right, Chie is slumped against Yukiko’s shoulder, her eyes shut tight as Yukiko attempts to cool them both down with her fan. The two of them really don’t look any better than he feels. Even Teddie is barely (or as he would say, “bearly”) holding up at this point. With a sigh, he pushes himself up with the help of his sword and wipes his shirt sleeve across his temple.

He clears his throat, getting the rest of the group’s attention.

“Let’s head back for today. We clearly weren’t prepared enough. We can try again tomorrow.”

Relief floods through the rest of the group as they push themselves up into standing positions and chatter amongst themselves. Souji watches them silently and follows behind Chie and Yukiko as Teddie starts to lead the way out. He almost jumps when a hand clasps his shoulder and he turns to look at Yosuke, giving him a silent but supportive smile.

“Don’t worry. We’ll be ready next time, partner.” Yosuke says, giving Souji his usual cheerful grin and signature wink before jogging off ahead to join up with the girls.

Running the words through his head, he doesn’t think they mean much but he appreciates them anyways. It’s no secret how Yosuke feels about the bathhouse and about Kanji, the discomfort from that is clear before the heat even starts to get to anyone else. It’s not worth thinking about right now, though. He’s irritable enough already without having to think about anything like that so he pushes the thoughts away and keeps walking, emptying his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

Keeping up with Minato’s strides is surprisingly more difficult than he was originally expecting.

Short as he may be, his legs are long and he takes big steps and he takes them quickly. Luckily for Souji, he’s taller and his legs are just as long, if not a little longer, so it isn’t too strenuous to keep up with him considering he’s still wracked with exhaustion from his last trip into the TV world.

“Do you even have any idea where you’re going?” Souji asks from slightly behind Minato, head tilting to the side slightly as he watches him try to find his way around Okina City.

There’s a brief silence before Minato casts a quick glance over his shoulder before setting his glance back forwards. “No.”

 _Thought so._ Souji quickens his pace for a brief moment to walk at Minato’s side, humming softly as he bites the inside of his cheek in an attempt to fight back a smile. He didn’t want him to think that he thought his cluelessness was enjoyable or something like that. Not that that would happen realistically, it was a stupid thing to worry about and he knew it but after the encounter they’d had with Chie and Yukiko he didn’t want to even slightly risk offending Minato. His friendship was too valuable to him. Also, pissing off someone who was a resident of the Velvet Room would probably be a bad idea considering he was getting help from them.

“You know,” Souji says, scratching at his chin. “I don’t even know why you wanted to come here? Did Inaba really get too old for you that quickly?”

Something akin to laughter bubbles from Minato as he shakes his head, maneuvering through a group of people crowded together with ease. As he watches he wonders if he should be surprised at how natural Minato seems in the crowded city atmosphere. Even Souji has trouble moving through crowds that well and he’s lived in big cities his entire life. Either Minato’s a master at avoiding other people or he used to live in a city or some other sort of largely populated area.

Or maybe it was both. That wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

“No...it’s nice there, really. I just wanted a change of scenery.” He falls silent, stopping in front of a music store to look in through the window with a curious look on his face, almost like he was a kid at a toy store.

Watching silently for a moment, Souji lets himself smile looking over his shoulder trying to spot what exactly had enraptured Minato. His gaze is fixated on some mp3 player, it’s an old model that Souji remembers seeing commercials for in the past. Back when he was still in middle school, he thinks. Music had never been something too big for him so he’d always just been satisfied listening to the radio if he wanted the noise. He wonders if it’s different for Minato.

“Do you like music?” He nods in response to the question, not tearing his eyes away from the inside of the shop.

Silence rings between them for a few minutes as Souji crunches numbers in his head.

“You’ve been eyeing that mp3 in there like it’s candy.” Minato still doesn’t turn his attention towards him, humming in response.

More silence. How wrapped up in his own thoughts is Minato that he hasn’t picked up on what Souji was trying to get across? Or maybe he just wasn’t quick to things as he’d first assumed.

“Do you want it?” He says and with that Minato turns his attention to him, looking with such wide eyes it’s almost as funny as it is cute.

Minato says nothing, doesn’t nod or give any indication that he’s planning on saying yes to that other than the surprised and slightly hopeful look in his eyes. That’s enough of a yes for Souji and he takes Minato’s hand for a second and pauses because it feels too...too much like something. So he adjusts his grip to be holding his wrist instead and that helps just a little bit as he starts to pull Minato inside of the shop.

When they exit, they’re not touching because Minato is too busy playing with the new device hanging around his neck. There’s something on his expression that Souji hasn’t seen before. The look is almost nostalgic.

“I think I...I used to have one. Just like this. When I was...” Minato trails off, eyebrows furrowing for a moment before he shuts them grimacing as if he was in pain. “Uh...nevermind.”

Souji stares for a moment, asks if he’s okay and the nod he’s given in response doesn’t do much to ease his worries. If Minato notices, he doesn’t say anything else about it for whatever reason and changes the subject to something else.

“If I’m gonna use this I’m gonna need music on it.” He pauses, looking at Souji again rather sheepishly. “And I’m gonna need some earphones too…”

 

* * *

 

“You came to the right guy, partner!” Yosuke clasps a hand against Souji’s shoulder, offering him a grin that seemed to be too wide for his face.

He watches as Yosuke pulls back after a quick moment, taking the mp3 player he bought for Minato into his hands and examining it with a thoughtful look on his face. Buying headphones for Minato had been one thing. It was simple enough considering he’d already had some idea at what he wanted to buy but when they’d parted the other day at the Velvet Room he’d handed the device off to Souji, telling him to fill it up with music. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if he had any idea what kind of music Minato even liked but even he didn’t know. The ‘sorry, can’t remember’ he’d given almost feels like a light, yet mocking slap to the face. _Almost._

“This is for uh- shit, what was his name again? Makoto, right?”

Souji shakes his head at that.

“It's Minato.”

“Right! Right.” Yosuke nods to himself and casting his gaze back at Souji. ”Any idea what kinda music he likes?”

“No.” He says with a sigh, leaning back in his seat as he watches Yosuke kick his legs off to the side while sitting on Souji’s desk.

That doesn’t seem to be the answer Yosuke wanted to hear and his eyebrows furrow and his noses scrunches slightly as he works himself deeper into thought. A moment passes before he follows Souji’s lead and exhales a sigh, running his hand not holding Minato’s mp3 player through his hair.

“Hm. Alright. I think I can handle this.” The smile Souji’s given is reassuring and Yosuke pushes himself off his desk, picking his bag up and putting the mp3 in with care and then slinging it over his shoulder.

“Thanks, Yosuke. I knew I could count on you.” Returning the smile, Souji gets up himself. Yosuke is the only person he knows with any sort of semi-serious musical knowledge so he figures he’d be doing Minato more justice by letting Yosuke decide what to put on there rather than doing it himself.

Flustered by his compliment, Yosuke winks at him and rubs the back of his neck as he chuckles. “Come on, dude. It’s just music. It’s not like it’s that big of a deal or anything.”

The modesty doesn’t come as much of a surprise or anything. Humility was one of Yosuke’s many traits. It was one of the more obvious ones as well. As much as he could be prone to jokingly boasting over something, he always managed to keep himself surprisingly humble.

The two of them make their way down the floodplain together, talking with mostly Yosuke occupying the conversation until a silence falls over them. It stays like that until they’re in front of of Yosuke’s house, the silence only being broken when they exchange parting words.

As Yosuke’s about to open the door to his house and walk inside, he turns and looks back at Souji, mouth agape and he looks like he’s struggling for words for something. Like he wants to talk about something bothering him and it’s been bothering him for a while. The look isn’t the most encouraging thing but Yosuke is his best friend so Souji pushes back the slight feeling of anxious dread that bubbles inside him in response to it.

“Uh...so...this is a gift for him-Minato-right?” His voice is hesitant as he asks and Souji just nods in response.

Brows furrow deeply at that and Yosuke chews slight on his bottom lip for a moment before speaking up again.

“You know a lot of people have...no. Uh. Shit.” Stumbling over his words he pinches the bridge of his nose and inhales before starting again. “Are you two…?”

When he trails off Souji stares blankly, at least he hopes it’s a blank stare. He’d rather not have the confusion and tension he’s feeling be apparent. It’s probably nothing anyways. The last thing he wanted was to make everything awkward.

There’s a stillness that falls over them but it doesn’t last very long when Souji doesn’t respond so Yosuke just shakes his head and waves off his own words with a vague hand gesture.

“Nevermind. It’s probably nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He says with a smile, the expression of discomfort faded from his face back to something more regular.

After he tells Souji that he should have the mp3 filled up with enough music to keep Minato satisfied by tomorrow he retreats into his home almost too quickly, leaving Souji to stand in what was left of the uncomfortable atmosphere.

 

* * *

 

Rescuing Kanji was by no means easy but he and the rest of his team manage to do it. It was a physical struggle and also a bit of a mental one.

Laying back in his futon, Souji pushes his hair out of his face with a sigh before exhaling deeply. His own sexuality was nothing he bothered to put much thought into. It was something he’d always been too busy to focus on anyways and it’s not like it was something his parents would probably be too pleased over either.

There were a few things that he knew for sure. Girls were pretty and he wouldn’t mind being with one if he found the right girl and that the idea of being with another guy had never really bothered him too much.

He also knows he can’t deny that the feeling he got when he held Minato’s hand the other day was something special. Something new. Something he’d never felt for anyone else before except for maybe that time when he held a cat’s paw while feeding it once. Even still those two things were still incredibly different and hardly comparable.

Minato plagues his thoughts like nothing else ever has. Thoughts of how nice his face is shaped or how pretty he probably looks in the moonlight. Of how holding his hand felt good and how he wants to do it again, how he wants to brush the hair out of Minato’s face so he can see his other eye. He bets it’s really pretty just like the rest of him.

With Kanji’s shadow these things were a lot harder for himself to ignore even if it wasn’t the most pleasant thing to have to watch. He’s read a lot of novels. A couple of romance ones and a couple of shoujo manga too. It’s not like he was expecting some sort of big, shocking revelation or anything but he thought figuring out he liked someone wouldn’t be so…underwhelming?

A quick glance to the clock on his desk tells him it’s one in the morning.

It’s one in the morning and he likes Minato and it all makes so much sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [funky jazz hands] haha yeah i'm not dead yet and neither is this fic. i finally got a new laptop and i'm on summer break so maybe i'll be updating more frequently??? (probably not, though.) 
> 
> anyways! this chapter is...hopefully better than the last one? and i hope you enjoy it! i wanna try to start picking stuff up with this fic so i don't struggle with writing it so much anymore haha.

**Author's Note:**

> i have literally never written a multi chapter fic before. i have no idea what i'm doing but i've wanted to write something for a velvet room attendant minato for ages.  
> basically all you need to know about this fic is it's just an au where minato takes marie's place but with a little extra too? i don't know i won't lie i had like absolutely no fucking idea what i was doing going into this besides how i was gonna end it lmfao.  
> anyways [jazz hands] sorry i suck at writing my guys but i hope you'll all enjoy this mess regardless.


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